Stirring ‘Black Nativity’ brings Christ’s manger to Sherman Park
What a difference a year makes.
Twelve months after unveiling its first production of Langston Hughes’ “Black Nativity,” Black Arts MKE’s second annual production couldn’t be more different while ultimately driving home the same point: The Christmas story is a stirring reminder that black lives matter.
Last year’s production, directed by Azeeza Islam, offered a traditional staging of Hughes’ gospel play, taking us to Bethlehem in Act I and then to church in Act II.
Taking full advantage of the latitude Hughes’ script permits, this year’s production under the direction of Malkia Stampley takes us to Sherman Park, in a prologue recalling that fateful August weekend of unrest, following yet another fatal police shooting.
In the aftermath, a briefly joyful neighborhood gets trashed. Literally: Scenic designer Madelyn Yee has filled garbage cans with paper, which an aggrieved and angry community then strews about the stage before it goes dark (lighting design by Jason Fassl).
Not for long. True to a play that closes both acts by calling attention to the Star of Bethlehem, light returns through this 18-actor cast’s children, who tentatively begin singing “Joy to the World.”
The way forward may still be murky, as Marcus McFarlin tells us in singing “My Way’s Cloudy.” And a young Joseph (Braylen Stevens) and the pregnant Mary (Camara Stampley) may still not find room at the inn. But the ensuing birth of Jesus — triggering a joyous reprise of “Joy to the World” that induced rhythmic clapping from the audience — offers a new beginning.
That resurgence of hope carries this piece to intermission, during which this high-octane cast dances to rearranged spirituals channeling blues and soul as well as disco and hiphop (choreography by Marvette Knight; music direction and keyboard by Antoine Reynolds, with Taurus Adams on drums and Afton Johnson on bass).
But this era of good feeling proves as fleeting as the Christmas spirit. Stampley’s gutsy and smart Act II doesn’t just present a church revival, but also a church divided.
At stage left, a preacher and his choir don their Sunday best to praise Jesus, while seemingly ignoring what’s happening all around them. But at stage right, the rest of the community, dressed in street clothes, mourns the shooting death of a child, before defiantly raising fists in a black power salute and then hoisting placards while taking to the streets in protest.
Can these two halves be made whole, overcoming their differences to make common cause on behalf of the sanctity of all life, regardless of color? Or does Christ’s redemptive promise only apply to some rather than all? Those questions are smartly framed and movingly answered here, in a version of the Christmas story underscoring why we need each other.